Moorim Pochang - Chapter 27

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 27. Joy and Sorrow.

“Master. I see a flag—it appears a new inn has opened in that forest.”
“I see. We’ve been moving since dawn. Let’s stop there for breakfast before heading into the Murim Alliance.”
At the merchant leader’s decision, the merchants lined their horses and carts along the roadside.
‘What’s this about?’
Gang Jo and Yang Jeong hurried outside.
At a glance, there were more than twenty merchants from the trading caravan.
“Elder brother. It looks like business is finally starting.”
“It was only a matter of time before customers came.”
Gang Jo’s chest swelled with anticipation.
As the merchants crossed the stone bridge, Gang Jo quickly bent at the waist in greeting.
“Welcome, honored guests.”
“We’d like to eat a simple bowl of noodles apiece and be on our way.”
The merchant leader received their greeting on behalf of his companions.
“I’ll prepare it deliciously for you.”
“We’re in a hurry—please be quick.”
“Understood. Please have a seat.”
The merchants who entered the inn settled into small clusters around various tables.
Gang Jo, about to head for the kitchen, opened his mouth on a sudden impulse.
“At this inn, we charge one silver tael per bowl of noodles. Will that be acceptable?”
At his words, the faces of every merchant sitting at the tables changed.
“Did you just say… one silver tael?”
“Yes. But in exchange, it’s extraordinarily delicious.”
Gang Jo’s words fell on deaf ears.
The merchants’ faces flushed red as they all rose from their seats.
“No matter how delicious—one silver tael for a bowl of noodles? Did you pull the noodles through gold dust?”
Sigh.
“This was a waste. Let’s just go.”
“Charging one silver tael for a bowl of noodles? You’re the biggest swindler in all the realm.”
Gang Jo and Yang Jeong watched numbly as the merchants crossed back over the stone bridge and disappeared.
Once they had all departed, Yang Jeong spoke.
“Elder brother. I told you from the start that one silver tael was far too expensive, didn’t I?”
Gang Jo was well aware that his prices were steep.
“Shut your mouth, you fool. Go finish fixing the stable.”
Yet he had no desire to yield his stubbornness.

*

“Stubborn as a bull, that one.”
Yang Jeong grumbled as he headed into the kitchen.
He wanted to have a drink first before getting to work.
But in one corner of the kitchen sat a martial secret manual.
“Elder brother. Why is this here?”
The manual was the one the Demon Cult’s leader had placed on the table.
When the leader departed, Yang Jeong had assumed the manual was missing from the table and had pocketed it.
“It fell beneath the table.”
Yang Jeong paid only half-attention to Gang Jo’s answer as he began examining the manual.
But the manual contained no commentary or explanation.
“What is this? A pretty husk with nothing inside?”
He tossed the manual back into the corner.
Martial secret manuals were originally written in obscure language, making them difficult to interpret.
If multiple people attempted to decode the same manual, each would end up with a different martial technique.
Yang Jeong knew how to interpret martial secret manuals.
But it would take him several months at least, and he despised tedious work.
Besides, since he had already brought home the Lunar Sword Method, he felt no desire to be greedy for this as well.
He let out a long sigh.
“Good. I’ll go fix the stables.”
After draining a cup or two, he picked up his hammer and left the kitchen.
The moment he was gone, Kang Jo reached for the manual tucked in the corner.
‘Extraordinary swordplay.’
The Moonlit Sword Technique was impressive enough, but this Self-Created Demon Sword Art surpassed it by a clear margin.
‘If he handed this out so casually, the Demonic Cult must possess techniques far more formidable.’
How powerful could the Cult Leader and the Alliance Master truly be?
His master had proclaimed his own martial prowess supreme beneath heaven, swearing by it.
Yet examining this manual suggested otherwise.
‘Master was a liar after all.’

*

“Give those eight promissory notes to that man.”
Baek Won-yeong could not hide his shock at what his father held out.
Eight notes—each worth a thousand taels. Eight thousand taels of silver in total.
“Father, why would you have me deliver so much silver to an innkeeper? For what purpose?”
“For his wine.”
How much had the man drunk to warrant eight thousand taels in drink alone?
At Won-yeong’s bewildered expression, Baek Mun-do’s face brightened with satisfaction.
“He earned every bit of it. Remember that.”
“Yes… I understand, Father.”
Won-yeong slipped the notes into his robe.
“How does your Upper Dantian progress?”
“Still far from complete, Father.”
He had achieved a great breakthrough roughly two years prior and managed to open his Upper Dantian.
At such a young age to have opened the Upper Dantian—he could rightly be called the most promising successor beneath heaven.
Yet the opening remained incomplete; he could only draw upon his Middle and Lower Dantians for now.
“You should have been the one to drink that wine and break through. Instead, I drank it myself.”
Part of him wished he could march back to that inn and threaten the proprietor into surrendering more.
But the man was no fool who would surrender it willingly, and he had no taste for banditry.
“What do you mean, Father?”
“Nothing. When fate denies us something, what can we do?”
Won-yeong asked nothing further.
“Very well, Father. I shall take my leave now.”
“Bring the silver before day’s end. If you arrive late, he will surely call me a swindler.”
“Yes. I’ll return before evening.”

*

“Alliance Master, how could you allow this old man such treatment?”
No sooner had Won-yeong departed than Shin Poong-gae burst into the Alliance Master’s quarters.
“What troubles you, Lodge Master?”
Baek Mun-do was at a loss.
He’d provided good food and drink—why was the old man so enraged?
“Do you know where this old man spent the night? In the grass!”
Hahahaha…
Though Shin Poong-gae seethed, Baek Mun-do burst into laughter.
That innkeeper was indeed no ordinary man.
He’d thought the inn would provide the Lodge Master’s delegation with rooms, but instead they’d been thrown out into the open.
“Shouldn’t you take that complaint up with him instead of me?”
Shin Poong-gae’s rage had reached its peak, but it suddenly deflated.
“Your words are wise, but… this old man is hardly in a position to show his face there.”
The Alliance Master could only tilt his head in confusion.
“But isn’t the successor you’ve been searching for there? Have you truly given up on the Lodge’s heir?”
“Give up? Never. But the heir has committed a grave wrong against that innkeeper—one so shameful I cannot face him.”
“What wrong could be so serious?”
Shin Poong-gae had no wish to air the Lodge’s shame before the Alliance Master.
Yet without his assistance, there was no other path forward.
He opened his mouth and began to unburden himself of what had happened before.
“The truth is, a long time ago in Hebei, those bandit wretches committed truly heinous acts… I suspect the innkeeper of this tavern must be that child.”
Ah…
A long sigh escaped Baek Mun-do’s lips as he listened to the tale.
‘So there was a reason his temperament was so resolute. Having endured such horrors from childhood, he could scarcely have become otherwise.’
Baek Mun-do himself had roamed the rivers and lakes long enough to have crushed countless bandit gangs.
When crushing these bands, he often came upon children held captive in their lairs.
Those children resembled not human offspring but beasts.
No—worse than beasts.
Most terrible of all was the fact that no few bandits harbored designs on the children.
“How might we best untangle this matter?”
Shin Poong-gae’s desperation was palpable.
He had found the finest successor in all the world, yet those damned bandits threatened to prevent him from even speaking with the boy.
“What became of those bandits?”
“This old man severed their necks with his own hands.”
“Why not have beaten them to death with a cudgel rather than a quick execution?”
Shin Poong-gae, who had been listless, lifted his head and fixed Baek Mun-do with a hard stare.
“Are you now fanning the flames of a burning house?”
Ha ha…
“I have no other remedy for it.”
Phew…
“Cursed beggar scum.”
Shin Poong-gae heaved a long sigh, rose to his feet, and left the room.
*

Giggle, giggle, giggle…
Trill, trill…
The laughter of children at play drifted as far as the tavern.
The village children, so lost in their games they’d forgotten the passage of time, had wandered as far as here.
Kang Jo trimmed pork while listening to their laughter.
Faint inner force spiraled along his palms and seeped into the meat.
“Look—there’s the tavern.”
“Don’t go in there. They charge a whole silver coin for room and board.”
“What’s wrong with just looking?”
“Still, don’t go in. They might demand payment even for that.”
At the children’s chatter, Kang Jo let out a sigh.
Sigh…
If even these young children knew of the place, it seemed there was hardly a soul in the village unaware of his tavern by now.
The children’s voices gradually grew distant.
Kang Jo rinsed rice and placed it in the pot.
Soon enough, Yang Jung would come rushing in, claiming hunger at the approach of midday.
As he had guessed, Yang Jung appeared a short while later.
But he was not alone.
He had brought four filthy children with him, and one of them held a dead snake in his hand.
“Where did these children come from?”
“They were playing in the forest without permission, so I brought them to send them back home.”
Kang Jo gazed at the limp snake.
It was a viper.
“What are they planning to do with that snake?”
At Kang Jo’s question, the child answered hesitantly.
“…We were going to roast it and eat it.”
Another child chimed in as well.
“It tastes good when roasted.”
Kang Jo smiled.
“Come and have a meal.”
At this, the children’s eyes widened in wonder.
“But doesn’t this place charge a whole silver coin?”
“We don’t have any silver.”
Ha ha ha ha…!
At the children’s reply, Kang Jo laughed deeply.
“Today’s on the house. Eat up before you go.”
Gang Jo ladled rice into a large bowl and scooped red-braised pork into another, setting both on the table.
The children, who had been watching cautiously, gathered one by one around the table and sat down.
Then they picked up their chopsticks and began shoveling rice into their mouths.
Wow…..
“This is incredibly delicious, mister.”
“I’ve never tasted anything this good before.”
As the children chattered away between mouthfuls, grains of rice flew in all directions.
Yang Jung, watching the scene with quiet satisfaction, took a seat at another table.
“Big brother, could I get some rice too?”
Tap….! Tap…..!
Gang Jo struck the dough against the cutting board as he spoke.
“Wait just a moment.”
It seemed clear enough that all the rice in the pot would go to these children.
“I’m starving, big brother.”
“I said wait a moment, you brat.”

Baek Won-young led a dark mare out of the Martial Alliance.
Yet Yeon Ja-seol followed immediately at his side.
“You’re heading to the inn, aren’t you, senior brother?”
“Ah….yes, that’s right. Are you coming along?”
“Yes. My treat today.”
Ha ha ha………..
“Looks like I’ll be getting a free meal after all.”
As he was laughing, Baek Ha-young appeared and attached herself to the group.
“I’m coming too, brother.”
She shot Ja-seol a look of unmistakable disapproval.
But Ja-seol pretended not to notice.
“So Ha-young’s fallen for that inn’s cooking, has she?”
“Yes. It’s delicious. But why are you bringing the horse?”
At Ha-young’s question, Won-young felt his face grow warm.
Had he known that his junior sister and his younger sister would both be coming, he would never have led the mare along.
“I have my reasons.”
The three of them walked slowly toward the inn.
As he walked, Won-young studied Ja-seol’s expression.
For some reason, she seemed tense.
He accepted it as a good sign.
‘She’s already looking forward to the food.’
Won-young proceeded with quiet contentment.
As the inn drew closer, a faint glow of light could be seen seeping through the forest.
“Please, just a little drink, big brother!”
“Shut your mouth and eat your rice, you wretch!”
The voices of the brothers came through, muted but distinct.
Won-young burst out laughing and hurried across the stone bridge.
Ha ha ha………..
“Welcome back.”
Before Won-young’s laughter had even faded, Gang Jo emerged to greet him.
“Please, come in.”
Ha-young stepped inside and looked at Gang Jo’s face, then turned her gaze toward the tables.
In the same moment, her eyes widened.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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